"Dr. Rock feels that the current paradigm of conference attendees sitting through a 60 minute lecture, followed by a quick break is counter-productive to the learning process. I've attended conferences, where by the end of the day my brain was mush, so I could relate to Dr. Rock's comments."

Unfortunately our conference schedules have remained the same, and for the most part our teaching methods continue to lack understanding of best learning processes for our exhausted attendees.

COLLABORATION IS MORE THAN A BUZZ WORD

The Genealogical Proof Standard does well to guide genealogy researchers in their individual pursuits, but collaboration isn't specifically mentioned. The implication is that we compose soundly reasoned, coherently written conclusions for those who wish to "check out" our research.

What about collaboration with other researchers to test out our reasoning earlier in the process?

ACTIVE COLLABORATION

Where is there time for active collaboration? Certainly not at a typical genealogy society meeting, fraught with all-too-long business meetings, leaving little time for the featured speaker to rush through his slides.

Saturday workshops may provide hands-on experimentation, and a little more give and take, but typically presenters don't provide enough time for the give and take. I've heard some folks like Randy Seaver and my cousin Russ Worthington do give what I'd call "real" workshops. The Pro-Gen Study Groups work well in this regard where:

discussion is more important than lecturing

real time research provides insights a PowerPoint slide cannot impart

It is particularly telling to witness in real-time what a researcher does when he hits a snag. I can read scholarly genealogy journals to see the summary results involving years of research and give up before I get started. But when I see how an experienced researcher handles the down and dirty research challenges, I gain insights for improving my research skills.

Conferences with vendor halls provide opportunities for vendors to demo their websites and software, but the bottom line is not to be ignored. Vendors have to sell product, and that takes all too much time unless they bring along extra employees to ring up your bill.

Institutes such as IGHR, SLIG and the new GRIP approach this form of collaborative learning, particularly when there are small group "homework" (read that late night!) assignments. The focus is developing research methods, not one's own research challenges.

MY COMMITMENT

If you attend any of Ol' Myrt's webinars, Second Life chats or all-day seminars, don't expect to take it sitting down - its all about collaborative learning. Feedback. Active participation. I want discussion. I want differing points of view. I want additional suggestions. I'd rather "discuss" five concepts well than squeeze 10 into a 60 minute "lecture".

NOTE: next Tuesday's Just Genealogy Second Life discussion on "Proof Arguments" has a prep assignment -- 2 related articles by noted genealogists. But the real learning will happen when we discuss how we each tackle the problem of composing proof arguments and not just relying on "fill in the blank" genealogy programs.

You can bet we will retain more info if we actively participate in a collaborative learning environment.

PHOTO: My screen shot of the 8 March 2012 APG Second Life Chapter Meeting.